The Flowerbed Hotel (that is, the "flower bed") will be erected next to the amusement park and business center Bloomin 'Holland ("Blooming Holland"). The "floral" theme is connected with the fact that Aalsmeer is the world center of flower trade, and the new buildings are designed not only for tourists, but also for visiting businessmen.
Hotel bureau MVRDV is a "stack" of rectangular concrete blocks, the top and side surfaces of which are planted with flowers (the area of these "flower beds" will total 2100 m2). To protect them from the vagaries of the climate, the outside of the building will be enclosed in a huge glass "greenhouse"; the architects have already used this solution in their project for the library of the city of Speikenisse.
The 280-room hotel will also include a conference center and spa. They will be united by a huge foyer inside the greenhouse, but outside the "blocks", divided into a public and a private area intended for guests.
Despite the large area of the glass facade - an ambiguous solution from the point of view of ecology, the building will be quite "green": for this, solar collectors, wind turbines, underground heat storage facilities, etc. are provided.
N. F.
